Ashtray

ABSTRACT

An ashtray includes a peripheral wall and a bottom wall together defining a compartment. A sealing plate having a melting point below 200° C. is mounted to an inner periphery of the peripheral wall and separates the compartment into an open space and a sealed space. A burning cigarette can burn through the sealing plate such that a burning end of the cigarette can enter the sealed space that lacks oxygen. Thus, the cigarette can be put out immediately to avoid injury to the human body.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an ashtray and, more particularly, to an ashtray that can put out a cigarette after smoking.

There are still many smokers although it is well known that smoking is detrimental to health. Ashtrays can receive butts to keep the environment clean. FIG. 1 shows a conventional ashtray 1 including a peripheral wall 11 defining a compartment 12. A plurality of cigarette holding grooves 111 are defined in a top edge of the peripheral wall 11. A burning cigarette 2 can be placed in one of the cigarette holding grooves 111 when not smoking or after smoking. Many compounds are generated during smoking, including nicotine, tar, carbon monoxide, and other chemical compounds including tens of stimulating substances and more than forty substances that may cause cancer. Thus, many people criticize side-stream smoke.

Although a temporarily placed burning cigarette can not be immediately put out, it is still helpful to reduce pollution to the environment and to reduce injury to human bodies if the burning cigarette can be put out immediately after smoking. An approach to put out the cigarette is water, but it is inconvenient. Another approach is to press the burning end of the cigarette with fingers with disadvantages of dirtying the fingers and unsatisfactory effect. Particularly, the cigarette may not be put out on the first try, and the fingers of the person putting out the cigarette may be injured on the second try.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An ashtray according to the preferred teachings of the present invention includes a peripheral wall and a bottom wall together defining a compartment. A sealing plate having a melting point below 200° C. is mounted to an inner periphery of the peripheral wall and separates the compartment into an open space and a sealed space. A burning cigarette can burn through the sealing plate such that a burning end of the cigarette can enter the sealed space that lacks oxygen. Thus, the cigarette can be put out immediately to avoid injury to the human body.

In the most preferred form, the inner periphery of the peripheral wall includes a ledge extending radially inward for supporting the sealing plate.

The present invention will become clearer in light of the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments of this invention described in connection with the drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The illustrative embodiments may best be described by reference to the accompanying drawings where:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a conventional ashtray.

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of an ashtray of an example according to the preferred teachings of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the ashtray of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view illustrating use of the ashtray of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of an ashtray of another example according to the preferred teachings of the present invention.

All figures are drawn for ease of explanation of the basic teachings of the present invention only; the extensions of the Figures with respect to number, position, relationship, and dimensions of the parts to form the preferred embodiment will be explained or will be within the skill of the art after the following teachings of the present invention have been read and understood. Further, the exact dimensions and dimensional proportions to conform to specific force, weight, strength, and similar requirements will likewise be within the skill of the art after the following teachings of the present invention have been read and understood.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

An ashtray 3 of an example according to the preferred teachings of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 2 through 4 and includes a peripheral wall 31 and a bottom wall 34 together defining a compartment 32. The peripheral wall 31 has circular cross-sections. However, other shapes of the peripheral wall 31 would be within the skill of the art. As an example, the ashtray 3A (FIG. 5) can have rectangular cross-sections. A plurality of cigarette holding grooves 312 are formed in a top edge of the peripheral wall 31 for temporarily holding burning cigarettes 2. A sealing plate 33 having a melting point lower than 200° C. is mounted to an inner periphery of the peripheral wall 31. The sealing plate 33 can be made of a plastic material such as polyvinyl chloride having a melting point of 135° C.-140° C., polyethylene having a melting point of 110° C.-130° C., or polypropylene having a melting point of 165° C. The sealing plate 33 can be burned by a burning cigarette to form a through-hole (FIG. 4) for holding the cigarette.

The sealing plate 33 is mounted to the inner periphery of the peripheral wall 31 at a level in a range from one half (½) to one-third (⅓) of a height from a bottom to a top of the peripheral wall 31. The sealing plate 33 separates the compartment 32 into an open space 321 in communication with the environment and a sealed space 322 (FIG. 3).

The peripheral wall 31 and the bottom wall 34 can be made of paper and foldable to allow easy carriage and disposal after use. However, the peripheral wall 31 and the bottom wall 34 can be made of plastic materials to reduce the costs while allowing disposal after use.

According to the preferred form shown, the inner periphery of the peripheral wall 31 includes a ledge 311 extending radially inward for supporting the sealing plate 33. It can be appreciated that the sealing plate 33 can be glued or bonded to the inner periphery of the peripheral wall 31 and/or the ledge 311. Nevertheless, the ashtray 1 can be integrally formed as a single continuous monolithic piece without the ledge 311. Namely, the ashtray 1 is formed with the sealing plate 33 as an integral part thereof.

The sealed space 322 has an oxygen concentration lower than that in the open space 321. Air can be pumped out of the sealed space 322 to reduce the oxygen concentration in the sealed space 322.

With reference to FIG. 4, after smoking, the burning cigarette 2 can burn the sealing plate 33 to form a hole for holding the cigarette 2, and the burning head of the burning cigarette 2 can enter the sealed space 322. Since the sealed space 322 lacks oxygen, the burning head of the cigarette 2 is soon put out.

Thus since the invention disclosed herein may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or general characteristics thereof, some of which forms have been indicated, the embodiments described herein are to be considered in all respects illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is to be indicated by the appended claims, rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are intended to be embraced therein. 

1. An ashtray comprising: a peripheral wall and a bottom wall together defining a compartment; and a sealing plate mounted to an inner periphery of the peripheral wall and separating the compartment into an open space and a sealed space, with the sealing plate having a melting point below 200° C.
 2. The ashtray as claimed in claim 1, with the sealing plate being mounted to the inner periphery of the peripheral at a level in a range from one half to one-third of a height from a bottom to a top of the peripheral wall.
 3. The ashtray as claimed in claim 1, with the sealing plate being made of a material selected from a group consisting of polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, and polypropylene.
 4. The ashtray as claimed in claim 1, with the peripheral wall and the bottom wall being made of paper.
 5. The ashtray as claimed in claim 1, with the inner periphery of the peripheral wall including a ledge extending radially inward, and with the sealing plate being supported by the ledge.
 6. The ashtray as claimed in claim 1, with the sealed space having an oxygen concentration lower than that in the open space. 